Method and system for establishing and using a social network to facilitate people in life issues

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein provide numerous applications and implementations of a social network to facilitate individuals to resolve various life issues. These issues may include issues that arise when individuals or families relocate, including logistic problems, assimilation of family members in a community, and roommate pairings. As will be described, embodiments described herein greatly facilitate corporations in relocating their employees logistically, and also assist employees and their families with life issues that may determine whether the employees&#39; relocation will be a success.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/386,444, filed Mar. 21, 2006 entitled “Method and System forEstablishing and Using a Social Network to Facilitate People in LifeIssues” which in a continuation in part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/934,265, filed Sep. 2, 2004 entitled “Method andSystem for Establishing and Using a Social Network to Facilitate Peoplein Life Issues” which claims benefit of priority to Provisional U.S.Patent Application No. 60/499,543, filed Sep. 3, 2003, entitled “Systemand Method of Managing Essential Collaborative Activities of theCorporate Relocation Process Pre, During, and Post Move,” and namingEmily J. White as inventor. All of the aforementioned applications arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to the field of socialnetworking. In particular, the disclosed embodiments relate to a systemand method for establishing and using a social network to facilitatepeople in life issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depiction of a system that incorporates asocial network service, under an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates components of a social network service, under anembodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method that illustrates an implementation of asocial network service, such as described in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method that illustrates another implementation of asocial network service, under an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5A illustrates yet another method in which issue resolvers areprovided as part of a social network, and the performance of the issueresolvers is tracked.

FIG. 5B illustrates a method in which a user is able to select an issueresolver from the social network and the issue resolver is able toinvite other issue resolvers into the users social network.

FIGS. 6A-6E illustrates different user-interfaces for use withembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for pairing roommates using a social networkservice, under an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Embodiments described herein provide numerous applications andimplementations of a social network to facilitate individuals to resolvevarious life issues. These issues may include problems and concerns thatarise when individuals or families travel or relocate. These issuesinclude logistic problems, problems arising with assimilating familymembers in a community, and, in certain context, roommate pairings. Aswill be described, embodiments described herein greatly facilitatecorporations in relocating their employees logistically, and also assistemployees and their families with life issues that may determine whetherthe employees' relocation will be a success.

In an embodiment, a social network may be established and used to assistindividuals in having issues resolved at a particular geographiclocation, particularly one that is unfamiliar to them (such as in thecase where they are moving to a new city). According to one embodiment,a list is maintained of participants who can assist in resolving issuesat the particular geographic location. The participants may correspondto individuals, organizations, or groups. The user may be presented witha plurality of categories from which the user may make a selection. Theuser may make a category selection and enter an inquiry (such as onepertaining to a problem the individual is having). A message isgenerated and sent to a service that corresponds to the user's categoryand issue. The message may omit a specific recipient for the inquiry.After receiving the selection of the category and receiving the inquiry,the service selects a recipient/participant for the user. The inquiry ofthe user is then sent to that participant. Subsequently, the user andthe recipient/participant are enabled to communicate with one another.

Other variations to an embodiment such as described are possible. In oneembodiment, in response to receiving the user's category selection andinquiry, the user is provided a plurality of biographies of possibleissue resolvers who may be able to assist the user in his issue. Theselection of possible issue resolvers may be based on one or more of thecategory selection or attribute or characteristic of the inquiry (e.g.key word), or other information provided by the user (e.g. geographicinformation). For example, a user may make a selection of a geographyand of a category of issues, using menus.

Still further, another embodiment maintains a list ofindividuals/recipients who are assigned to resolve issues falling undera particular category. The designation of an individual or recipient toa category may be set, so that a user's subsequent category selectiondetermines who the recipient of the user's inquiry will be. The inquirymay then be sent to the recipient designated for the inquiry's categoryselection. The performance of the recipient to resolving the issuepresented in the inquiry is then monitored or tracked.

One or more embodiments described herein may be implemented through theuse of modules. A module refers to a program, a subroutine, a portion ofa program, a software component, firmware or a hardware componentcapable of performing a stated task or function. A module can exist on ahardware component such as a server independently of other modules, or amodule can exist with other modules on the same server or clientterminal, or within the same program. A module may be implemented on aclient or on a server, or distributed between clients, servers, oramongst a client-server.

Furthermore, one or more embodiments described herein may be implementedthrough the use of instructions that are executable by one or moreprocessors. These instructions may be carried on a computer-readablemedium. Services and components illustrated by figures in thisapplication provide examples of processing resources andcomputer-readable mediums on which instructions for implementingembodiments of the invention can be carried and/or executed. Inparticular, the numerous machines shown with embodiments of theinvention include processor(s) and various forms of memory for holingdata and instructions. Examples of computer-readable mediums includepermanent memory storage devices, such as hard drives on personalcomputers or servers. Other examples of computer storage mediums includeportable storage units, such as CD or DVD units, flash memory (such ascarried on many cell phones and PDAs), and magnetic memory. Acomputer-readable medium as used herein may extend across multiplemachines. For example, the medium may be distributed between client andserver in order to perform a stated task or operation.

System Overview and Methodology

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depiction of a system that incorporates asocial network service 110, under an embodiment of the invention. Thesocial network service 110 may be provided by one or more modules orapplications that execute on servers or other networked computers thatare available to terminals. At one stage, the service 110 receivesinquiries from users who inquire about a particular matter or issue. Atanother stage, the service 110 has available to it participants atvarious geographic locations. The participants may include individuals,groups that require participation from individuals (e.g. clubs,companies) and other organizations or charters (e.g. Chambers ofCommerce) that people may belong to, are employed by, volunteer for, orare somehow associated with on a professional, quasi-professional, orpersonal level. Users may submit inquiries to the service 110, includingissues that need to be resolved or inquiries for information on aparticular topic. The service 110 may select which participants are bestsuited to respond to that inquiry.

In an embodiment, a user 102 may operate a terminal 112 to submit aninquiry 108 to the service 110. The inquiry 108 may be blind, in that itis not addressed to or for an identified individual or participant. Forexample, the inquiry 108 may be a web-based message (e.g. email or webform) to an unidentified person. In one embodiment, the inquiry 108 (i)may be a question, (ii) request for assistance about a particular topic,or (iii) request for whom the user 102 can contact regarding a topic orissue. Communications between the user 102/terminal 112 and the service110, between the participants and the service 110, and/or between theuser and the participants, may be conducted over a data network, whichmay include Internet (or a Local Area Network), public switchedtelephone system, and/or cellular data networks.

The service 110 may be equipped with data and intelligence in order tobe able to select participants who are most pertinent or best capable ofhandling the inquiry 108. The service 110 may make a selection ofparticipants on behalf of user 102. In an embodiment such as shown byFIG. 1, four sets of participants are shown. An organization 122 isshown having, as associates or subscribers, numerous individuals 123. Anexample of an organization is a chamber of commerce, with individualswho work for or owning businesses being participants of theorganization. Another example of an organization is an entity that hasassociated individuals as employees. Other participants shown in theexample of FIG. 1 include a first individual 124, a group 126 (such as aclub) having individual members 127, and a second individual 128. Theparticipants may reside at different locations. In the example shown,organization 122 and first individual 124 reside at location 132 (L1),while group 126 resides at location 134 (L2) and second individual 128resides at location 126 (L3). Each of the locations 132, 134, 136 maycorrespond to, for example, cities, states, or countries, althoughsmaller geographic areas are also contemplated (e.g. city blocks, campusbuildings).

In an embodiment, part of the consideration that the service 110 makesin selecting what participants should receive the user inquiry 108 isbased on geography. The user 102 may specify location with the inquiry,or the service 110 may make a determination as to what location toselect based on other information. However, an embodiment provides thatthe user 102 does not identify who is to receive the communication.Often, the case is that the user does not know who can respond to thisinquiry. The service 110 may maintain information about numerousparticipants, including the participants 122-128 shown, as well as therespective location of each participant. The service 110 may use theinformation provided by the user 102 to narrow or otherwise selectparticipants to handle the inquiry 108. Other information that may bemaintained by the service 110 includes personal information, such asbiographical information of individuals. The biographical informationmay comprise numerous items, including for example: name, age,education, place of higher-education, career, hobbies, place of origin,music preferences, expertise and knowledge, photograph, and audiomessage. The biographical information may also contain information thatindicates what that individual's expertise is. This information may becollected for individuals in the organization 122 or group 126, as wellas for the case where the participants are first individual 124 andsecond individual 128.

In one implementation, the service 110 selects the participants who willreceive the inquiry based on an indication from the user of a topic orcategory of the communication. As shown by another embodiment, service110 may display a user-interface that includes multiple categorylistings, and the user 102 may select from the category listings acategory. However, the user may use other mediums to communicate to theservice 110 a category or topic selection pertaining to an issue orproblem of concern, including specifying the category in the inquiry108. As an alternative or additional selection criteria, the service 110may select the participants who will receive the inquiry 108 based oninformation that is maintained about the participants. In oneembodiment, the information maintained includes the locations 132-136 ofthe respective participants. Biographic information may also bemaintained. The inquiry 108 from the user may, either by itself orthrough other communications, give the basis for the service 110 to makethe selection of participants, and this basis may correspond to ageography that pertains to the inquiry 108, or a category or topic ofthe inquiry. In the example shown by FIG. 1, all the participants shownare the selected participants, and unselected participants to handle theuser's inquiry 108 are not shown. Other embodiments may only useparticipants of a particular class, such as organization/employer class,group class or individual class.

The manner in which each participant handles an inquiry may vary fromparticipant to participant. For organization 122, the inquiry 108 may bereceived and distributed to its members. The members may correspond tovolunteers, subscribers, or employees. The organization 122 may also beselective as to which participants receive the inquiry 108. The same mayhold true for group 126.

Participants, or individuals of the participants, may furnish a responseto the inquiry 108 by providing personal information about themselves.For example, for the case of organization 122 corresponding to a chamberof commerce, an entrepreneurial individual/member may submit a personalbiography 142. Group 126 may correspond to a hobby group or churchgathering, and individuals in that group may be selected by the group tofurnish biographic information about themselves or the church group. Theuser may need to set a limit on the number of responses that he or shewill be able to accept.

In an embodiment, the different biographic information is submitted bythe participants selected by the service 108. Not all of the selectedparticipants may respond. And in the case of organization 122 or group126, multiple responses may be provided, as multiple individuals may beassociated with the organization/group. The different responses may besent back to service 108, which may compile the responses. In anembodiment where respondents provide biographies, the service 108 mayform a compilation 144 of the biographies and send the compilation tothe terminal 112 of the user 102. Each response may also include apreliminary answer to the user's inquiry.

The user 102 may then choose who he or she wishes to use as the inquiryhandler based on the biographic information. For example, the user maydecide which individuals biographic information is best suited for anissue that the user has, or which individuals location is mostconvenient. As another example, there may be the case where a person hasto move to Chicago, and the person is in need of a medical specialist.The need to find the medical specialist may be paramount to whether themove is successful. The user's inquiry 108 may be a request for areferral to such a specialist in Chicago. The inquiry may be sent out tonumerous locations, including the Chamber of Commerce in Chicago, aswell as a medical organization in California that has as its membersdoctors. The responses may include a non-specialist doctor who is partof the Chamber of Commerce, or a specialist who is not in Chicago, butin California. Since finding a specialist is of paramount importance tothe user, he may choose to communicate with the specialist inCalifornia, in hopes that he knows other specialists in Chicago. He mayconcurrently, or at a later time communicate with the doctor as well,but he has the choice.

One embodiment provides that the user goes through service 110 tocommunicate with the respondents that he chooses. Another embodimentprovides that he goes outside of the service 110. While an embodimentshown by FIG. 1 shows that the service 110 forwards the responses to theinquiry 108 to the user, it may also be possible for the responses to gooutside of the service 110.

While an embodiment shown in FIG. 1 describes a process where service110 makes a selection of who is to receive the user's inquiry, otherembodiments may provide that no selection is made on-the-fly. Rather, adesignation may be pre-existing as to which participants are to beforwarded inquiries based on category selection and/or other selectioncriteria provided by the user. An example of how such a variation may beimplemented is described with a method of FIG. 5. Still further, anotherembodiment may provide that the user makes the ultimate selection of whothe participants will be. In such an embodiment, the service 110 matchespossible participants to the user's category and selection criteria, andpresents choices for the user. No communication is sent to theparticipants until after the user has selected from the choices. Thechoices may be provided in the form of a listing of biographicalinformation. An example of such an embodiment is described with FIG. 4.

As an added feature, service 110 may maintain (i) a history of previousactivities with regard to a particular issue and/or (ii) biographies ofrespondents (or even users). Users can research their issues and see howtheir issues have been handled in the past. If biographies ofrespondents are provided, users may be able to learn more aboutpotential respondents before posing his issue to the service 110.

FIG. 2 illustrates components of social network service 110, accordingan embodiment. The components include a module 210, a user-interface(UI) 212 and a database 214 (although other forms of data storage may beused). The database 214 may be used to store information about theparticipants. This information may include one or more of the following:the location of the respective participants, the identity of theparticipant, the type of entity the participant is, and what topics toconsider that participant for purpose of responding to inquiries. In anembodiment such as described with FIG. 4, the database 214 may includebiographies completed by the individuals who are the respondents.

In one embodiment, the UI 212 enables the user to enter the inputs forcreating inquiry 108, and these inputs are subsequently processed by themodule 210. In one embodiment, the inputs include (1) category/topicspecification 211 (2) inquiry content 213. The UI 212 may provide aform, or a template (such as for use with a messaging application) toenable a person to enter the inputs. The category specification maycorrespond to a list of categories, each of which are selectable. Whenthe category is selected by the user, the module 210 receives thecategory as input.

In response to receiving the input through the UI 212, the module 210selects participants using the information of the database 214. Then themodule 210 sends messages 222 to selected participants, where themessages may include the inquiry content 213, or content based on theinquiry content 213. The number of messages sent 222 may be one or more.

In an embodiment, the module 210 may receive the bios 232 fromrecipients of messages 222. The module 210 then sends a compilation 242(or aggregation) of the bios to the user. Additionally, the module orsome other internal/external component may perform a step of trackingindividual participants and/or the user, in order to see how well theuser's problem was resolved.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method that illustrates an implementation of asocial network service, such as described in FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference tonumerals of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is intended to illustrate suitablecomponents for performing a step of the method.

In step 310, a list is maintained that contains participants andinformation about participants. As described in FIG. 1, the participantsare those entities that respond to inquiries from users, includingindividuals who belong to or are otherwise a part of those participants.

In step 320, a user-interface is provided that displays a plurality ofcategories in a selectable manner. An example of a user-interface isprovided with FIGS. 6A-6D. The selectable categories may, for example,be provided in the form of a combination of icons and pull-down menus.In addition to categories, there may also be choices for sub-categories.For example, the user may select “home”, then be presented a list ofoptions such as “packing and moving”, “schools” and “elder care”. Fromthose choices, the user may select “packing and moving”. Through theuser-interface, the user can select a category and enter the inquiry.This may involve the user using a mouse or pointer to select menu itemsand categories until an appropriate category is selected. In oneembodiment, this causes a message to be generated on the user'sterminal. The user can enter his inquiry through text (or perhaps voiceinput), then send the message.

In step 330, the service receives the message, which contains thecategory specification and the content of the inquiry.

In step 340, the service selects which participants should be forwardedthe inquiry. This determination may be made based on the categoryselected by the user, as well as the information that is maintainedabout the participants. For example, the information about theparticipants may include an association between individuals/participantand the category. Other information may also be used. For example, inthe inquiry, the user may also specify a geographic location, and theselection of the participants may be based additionally on thegeographic locations. Other information that may be used to selectparticipants include: feedback or a quality rating of the participant(so that some participants who would have otherwise matched are notselected in favor of those participants who do match and have higherratings), and key word match between text in the inquiry and informationprovided by participants (e.g. biographies).

In step 350, an electronic message is generated to the participants. Theelectronic message invites a response to the inquiry of the user.

In step 360, one or more responses are received, from some or all of theparticipants. As mentioned earlier, if the participant is anorganization or group, more than one response may be received. Theresponse may be in the form of or include biographical information of anindividual. For example, a typical response may include a biography andan answer or inquiry response from a participant. The biographicalinformation provides a means by which the user can learn about anindividual who may address the inquiry.

In step 370, the responses (biographies and answers or other informationprovided by the participants) are compiled and forwarded to the user.The user can make his selection of who he wishes to communicate withbased on the biographies.

The following is an example of how an embodiment such as described inFIGS. 1-3 may be implemented. A person may need to relocate to Chicago.The person may be in need of a special heart medication. What the personmay need to know is how much the medication will cost in Chicago, andhow readily available the new medication is. Under an embodiment such asdescribed in FIGS. 1-3, the user may access service 110, select “medicalcategory” through UI 212, enter an inquiry “I need to check theavailability of my heart medicine in Chicago, and its price . . . ” andthen send the message. The service 110 will receive the message, locatethe geographic information (Chicago) and make a selection of who shouldreceive the information. In one example, the service 110 may send theinquiry to the Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. In another example, theservice 110 may send the inquiry to one or more identified doctors orcardiologists. An embodiment such as described above may also beimplemented in a social network such as described with FIG. 5B.

Method for Presenting Participant Choices to User Before Participant isContacted

FIG. 4 illustrates a method that illustrates another implementation of asocial network service, similar to embodiments described in FIGS. 1 and2. A method such as described with FIG. 4 may be implemented as avariation to the embodiments described in FIGS. 1-3. Reference tonumerals of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is intended to illustrate suitablecomponents for performing a step of the method.

In step 410, biographical information about participants (or individualswho belong to the participants) is maintained. This information may bedetailed, so that a stranger reviewing the biographical information canlearn about the individual who is the subject of the biographicalinformation, without having to exchange communications with that person.The biographical information about the participants may be stored in thedatabase 214. An individual may supply his own biographical informationfor the service 110. In one example, the service may mandate a form withfields and mandatory content that the individual or participant mustprovide information for. Examples of content that may be included in thebiographical information includes: (i) a picture or photo album,including one of the person who is the subject of the biography, (ii)contact information for the person, (iii) information about the person'sprofession or expertise, (iv) personal information, including hobbies.

As with an embodiment such as described in FIG. 2, step 420 may providefor a user-interface that displays a plurality of categories in aselectable manner. For example, UI 212 may list categories and provideother fields for enabling the user to enter inputs that includeselection criteria.

In step 430, category and selection criteria are received from the user.The selection criteria is information that the user enters to assist theselection of participants to handle the user's inquiry. The criteria maybe a keyword, subject heading or other information. The criteria mayalso correspond to the category selection. Other examples of selectioncriteria include geographic selection. For example, in the context ofpeople relocation, a user may wish to know about a specific categoryfrom people who reside in the location where the user is moving to.

In step 440, participants are identified based on the category andselection criteria, and whether or not the respective participantsbiographical information includes the category and/or selectioncriteria. In an embodiment such as described with FIG. 2, this step maybe performed by module 210, as it accesses information contained indatabase 214 using input received from the user through UI 212.

In step 450, the participants that match the category and selectioncriteria are presented to the user. The presentation of the participantsmay again be done through the UI 212.

Step 460 provides that a user-selection of one or more participants isreceived from the user through a second set of inputs. Given a set ofbiographies presented in step 450, the user may, for example, select oneparticipant (based on the biography). Then in step 470, the user isenabled to communicate with the selected participant(s) over an onlinemedium. For example, once the user makes a selection of whichparticipant the user wishes to communicate with, the user may submit aninquiry or request for the participant identified in step 450. Theservice 110 may handle the request by forwarding the request to theidentified participants. In such an embodiment, an email address orother contact information may be shielded from the user. In onevariation, it is also possible to shield the identity of theparticipant, or the end person who will be communicating with the user.Specific examples of communications over an online medium include thefollowing: email exchange, instant messaging, web blog (e.g. exchange ofweb blog URLs), video/audio broadcasts (including over data networks).It is also contemplated that communications will be possible overmediums that are not online (e.g. offline, telephone, in -person).

According to another embodiment, the user may make multiple selectionsat different times. For example, the user may store the biographies,select one for a first communication exchange, and if the user is notsatisfied, select another biography at a later time. The user may selectto have his issue and/or response be held private by service 110, orpublished to groups of users as a public item.

Other examples of how subsequent communications between selectedparticipants/individuals and the user may be performed include one ormore of the following: chat room, video-conference call, telephone call(blind) etc.

Method for Resolving Issues

FIG. 5 illustrates another method that illustrates anotherimplementation of a social network service, similar to embodimentsdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 2. A method such as described with FIG. 5 maybe implemented for purpose of resolving a user's issues, and as avariation to the embodiments described in FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference tonumerals of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is intended to illustrate suitablecomponents for performing a step of the method.

In step 510, an association between a plurality of issue resolvers and aplurality of issue categories is maintained. An issue resolver maycorrespond to a participant (an individual or other entity) who is knownto be able to handle, and perhaps resolve issues of a specific nature.Individual issue resolvers may be associated with issue categories, sothat one category selection in a subsequent step automaticallyidentifies at least one participant who is known to be able to resolvethe issue. The association between the issue resolvers and thecategories may be stored in the form of data (e.g. metadata) in database214.

Step 520 provides a user-interface that displays the plurality ofcategories. For example, UI 212 may be configured to display adesignated set of categories, each of which have associated with it atleast one participant who is the issue resolver for that category.

In step 530, the category selection is received from the user. At orabout the same time, an embodiment provides that in step 540, a messageis received from the user containing an explanation of an issue thatfalls under the category. In one embodiment, the user may select a linkprovided on UI 212, which signals the category selection to the module210. The selection of the link also causes a message body to be opened.The user may then type an issue or question about the selected category.As another embodiment, selection of the link may cause a categoryidentification to be inserted into the message. For example, thecategory identification may be provided in the subject line of an emailmessage.

In step 550, the user's message is routed to a participant/respondentwho is designated to resolve issues for the category selected by theuser. For example, service 110 may use database 214 to determine theassociation between the category of the issue and the issue resolverassigned to that category. Thus, the user may submit an email, forexample, to a category heading, but the recipient of the email is notknown to the user.

In step 560, the performance of the particular issue resolver istracked. This may entail one or more of the following: (i) timing howlong it takes for the identified issue resolver to get back to the user,(ii) if subsequent communications are exchanged between user and issueresolver, timing the responsiveness of the issue resolver to each usercommunication, (iii) receiving feedback from the user on how well theissue resolver resolved the user's issue, (iv) other objective orsubjective criteria for determining the effectiveness of the issueresolver for the user. Implementing a tracking step may include timestamping every communication from an issue resolver, and possibly everycommunication from the user to the issue resolver. In one embodiment, asocial network service receives reports from users, and/or generatesreports on behalf of the user. The reports may be stored, and madeavailable to other users of the service 110 as a mechanism to enablethose users to evaluate the service, how the service resolves issues ofa particular category, and/or how individual participants/resolvers haveperformed in the past.

A particular issue contemplated by embodiments of the invention includescorporate relocation assistance. A typical setting may be the military,or a corporation where new hires, transferees, business travelers,college interns, and employees (or prospective employees) areasked/required to relocate/travel from time-to-time. Under a currentapproach, such corporations typically have a human resource department,or other internal relocation departments who facilitate the entirearduous process of relocation. But numerous parties, both inside andoutside of the company become involved in the relocation efforts,usually months before the move begins. When the person relocating has anissue, an embodiment such as described with FIG. 5 enables the person tolocate the right individual to have his or her issue resolved using asimple interface. For example, the user may select a category of“packing and moving” and write a question regarding an item that wasbroken by movers. The exact time the inquiry was sent out may berecorded, and how the issue is resolved may be monitored as a way forthe corporation to evaluate the moving company. Thus, if an issue isignored, not timely answered, or poorly resolved, the company whichhires the moving company will have knowledge of it for future use. Theservice 110 has associated a customer service representative of themoving company to field the inquiries to “packing and moving”. Theresponse is forwarded by the service 110. The reply, and possibly howwell the issue was resolved on behalf of the relocator, is then trackedthrough feedback and responsiveness.

The example described above may be extended to family members of theperson relocating. Consider an example of an employee of aninternational company who receives a new job assignment requiring theemployee to relocate from Germany to the United States. Studies haveshown that for the relocation to be successful, the spouse and immediatefamily of the person being relocated must assimilate or integrate into anew community. This means a sense of belonging to a new community, aswell as developing relationships in the community that are essential forthe family and the employees. If this does not occur, most relocationsdo not survive within the new location. An embodiment such as describedabove enables the assimilation process to begin before the family isever located by enabling the spouse and other family members to researchand resolve their issues with other persons/entities who can be ofassistance to them. Requesting assistance from individuals that one doesnot know is a way to develop a relationship of trust within a new areabecause people are helping transferees and family members to settle intotheir new area. In one example, the spouse may have her own business(e.g. a flower shop) and she may be interested in learning whether shecan continue her business in their new town. She does not know the lawsregarding small businesses, and she has no contacts in the part of townthey will live in. There may be children in the family, and for example,one child may have a handicap, such as hearing loss. This child may needa school with a special teaching program. Housing issues may exist aswell. The new family may not know where to buy a home or what town theywill live in. The initial plan may be to rent a home near the place ofwork until the family as a whole becomes more familiar with the area.There may be added stress in that neither the spouse nor anyone else inthe family speaks English well.

Without any assistance, the spouse or other family member may spend agreat deal of time conducting research through generic sources, such asthe Internet, in an effort to find information about the resources forresolving the families issues in the move. Under a traditional approach,the result would be that the family would receive a list of schools, andnames of strangers or phone numbers. Other issues the family would havewould be handled in the same way—the spouse, for example, would findinitial starting points to having the issues answered, but there wouldbe no assistance, or guidance, other than other general non-personalassistance. In an international move, the spouse and family will facethe additional challenges of cultural differences and language barriers.

According to an embodiment, the spouse may be provided access to asoftware suit, based on embodiments described with FIGS. 1-5. From theinterface, she may specify a category for individual issues that thespouse or other family may have regarding the life issues they all facein making the move. For example, from a list of categories provided in amenu, she might make one or more selections that lead her to thecategory of “schools” or and/or “local business laws”. In either case,after selecting the issue, she identifies the new location (e.g. town,city, nearest metropolis, county etc) of the family's relocation. Shemay use a text-entry or menu selection to identify the new location, andthen use a message body to ask her question or present her issue. Forexample, she may request assistance on business rules for small businessowners under the heading of “local business laws” or she may ask whichschools offer assistance in the area for her child's particularhandicap. For the topic heading of “local business laws”, service 110may forward her issue to a Chamber of Commerce in the new city, or evento a specific individual in that organization who can provideassistance. Her inquiry regarding the category of “Schools” may go to anagency that handles such questions for relocators on behalf of thecorporation seeking to relocate their employee. In the latter case, theperformance of the agency may be tracked.

The response that the spouse may receive may be in the form of aone-to-one personal response. The service 110 may be pre-configured sothat the respondents/participants in a particular location areindividuals who can provide a personalized response and be available forsubsequent communications. If the response requires information fromothers who can help, it is possible for the user's inquiry to beforwarded to others within that organization or outside of thatorganization who will also send their bios. The result is that thespouse, who may be located in Germany, is networked to individuals whocan establish answers to her issues, assist her relocation on a personaland/or professional level, and perhaps include the spouse/family in agrowing social network of trusted contacts for the particular location.

As an alternative to an embodiment such as described with FIG. 4, theservice may provide information about potential issue resolvers that theuser may select from. Biographies of individuals may be stored andassociated with specific categories and issues. For example, individualsmay enter their biography or personal information for use with service110. When the user presents the issue to the service 110, the serviceprovides matching biographies without going outside of the service.Thus, in the example provided above, the service 110 may provide a listof individuals whom the service 110 has identified internally as beingcandidates for responding to questions about local business laws. Thebiographies provide the spouse the ability to see who has the mostpotential for responding to her question about running a local floralshop. For example, she may see another florist in the biography, and shemay use service 110 to establish communications with that person.

Social Networking Resolution of Issues

However, for whatever reason, a first issue resolver may be a referralsource of the issue. For example, in one situation, the individual(“Connection 1”) that the user has selected may not be able to solve theproblem or answer the question the user has submitted. In otherinstances, Connection 1 may see other questions or issues the user hason their bio which are not related to the question posed. In eithercase, Connection 1 may know of others, either inside or outside of hisor her network of contacts (on-line, personal, friends, family etc.),who may be able to assist the user with either the original issue. orother issues that become apparent.

In regard to any of the embodiments described herein, a socialnetworking system, whether formally and programmatically establishedthrough a service, or information through personal contacts, may be usedto resolve issues and connect one individual with another for purpose ofsolving life issues. As such, while an initial point of contact mayyield one person, a social networking framework may mean that theresponder may actually be someone who knows the initial point of contact(one degree), or someone who knows the person of one degree (seconddegree) and so forth. FIG. 5B illustrates a system for establishing andusing a social network in such cases. In FIG. 5B, a social network isestablished by a server-side system 510, to which a user 520 (throughclient terminal) connects with.

In one implementation, the user 502 submits an inquiry 512 of an issueresolution nature to the service 510. A direct connection may beestablished when the inquiry communication 512 is forwarded to theresolver. This connection is termed Connection 1 520, and it representsthe issue resolver (which can be a person, agency, or other entity) andhis communication with the service 510. One typical occurrence is thatConnection 1 520 handles a response 514 to the issue resolution. Theresponse 514 may be handled in a manner described by other embodimentsherein. The response 514 is shown to be to service 510, although it canbe direct to the user 502.

There are other cases where Connection 1 520 is not the resolver, orwhere Connection 1 520 is a resolver-in-part. In cases such as this,Connection 1 may seek to add another individual with whom Connection 1520 is familiar with and believes is an expert in the particular fieldin question. A second individual, Connection 2 530, is invited to jointhe network by Connection 1 520 by an invite 516, such as in the form ofan email or some other mode of communication (e.g. announcement, phonecall, posted message, instant message etc). After receiving theinvitation 516, one embodiment provides that Connection 2 530 logs ontothe system and creates a profile 532, or at least provides some sort ofinformation about himself. The profile 532 is then associated with theparticular issue in question and is stored by a database 525. Theprofile 532 is then returned by the service 110 to the user for theuser's consideration. The user 502 then has the option of choosingwhether to allow Connection 2 530 to resolve the issue (separately or inaddition to assistance from Connection 1 520).

In another embodiment, Connection 2 530 is able to see the issueimmediately upon accepting the invitation and creating a profile. Uponjoining the network, Connection 2 530 may issue a response 534 to eitherthe user directly, through the system 110, to Connection 1 520 throughthe system 110, or directly to Connection 1 who will then respond to theuser either directly or through the system 110.

Still further, in some cases, the user may not want Connection 2 530 toknow the particular issue the user has without first reading Connection2's profile. An embodiment provides that the service 510 hosts theinteraction between the user 502 and the Connection 530 in a mannerwhere (i) user 502 sees the profile 532 of Connection 2 530, butConnection 2 knows nothing about the user; (ii) user 502 learns theidentity of Connection 2 in addition to or as an alternative to learningthe profile 532, but the Connection 2 does not learn any informationabout the user 502; (iii) either (i) or (ii), with Connection 2 seeingan anonymous profile of the user 502, and user 502 seeing the profile532 of Connection 2. One or more of these implementations enable “blind”connections to be formed, where the user 502 can know more about theindirect connection to the contact of the first issue resolver(Connection 1 520). Furthermore, in such cases, when Connection 1 520invites Connection 2 530 to join the system, the issue is notimmediately associated with Connection 2 530 until the user has reviewedthe profile and allowed Connection 2 to see the pending issue. After theuser 502 has reviewed the profile the user may allow Connection 2 530 toresolve the issue and see other issues the user has pending. Connection2 530 is contacted by the user through the system with the issue to beresolved, and the database 525, associates Connection 2 530 with theissue. Just as Connection 1 520 was able to do, Connection 2 530, may inturn invite others with whom Connection 2 is familiar with to join thenetwork to help resolve the user's life issue. The cycle may repeatitself again. In either case Connection 1 520, originally selected bythe user is an integral part in resolving the user's issues.

For example, in addition to the question of running a local floral shopabove, the user has several other issues which need to be resolvedbefore relocating to a new area. There may be questions on the user'sbio, about where the children will be attending school if they move intoa particular area, and what area has houses for sale. When Connection 1520 is contacted regarding the question of running a floral shop,Connection 1 notices the other pending questions. Connection 1 520happens to know the Superintendent of schools in the area and invitesthe Superintendent to join the network. The Superintendent logs onto thesystem, via the invitation from Connection 1 520 and creates a profilewhich is stored in the database. Depending on user preference, thequestion about schools is either immediately forwarded to theSuperintendent for response, or the issue will only be forwarded afterthe user has viewed the newly created profile. If the user allows theissue to be resolved by the Superintendent, the database stores the newprofile and associates the issue with the profile. The Superintendent ofschools contacts either the user or Connection 1 though the system ordirectly to relay the needed information.

When the Superintendent, now Connection 2 530, has resolved the usersissue, Connection 2 may notice the other issue the user has pending, thequestion about houses for sale in the area. Connection 2 may know atrusted real estate broker who can help the user. Connection 2 theninvites the real estate broker, Connection 3 540, to join the networkand the cycle repeats itself, in a manner provided by one or moreembodiments or implementations described above. As such, one embodimentprovides that the user can be in total control of who the user wantsresolving the issues in question.

With embodiments described above, additional role of service 510 is toexecute processes where communications (e.g. inquiries 512 and responses514) are passed between user 502 and Connection 1 520. The service mayalso maintain the profiles 532, execute protocols to maintain theconnections in blind form, and perform other functions such as enableprogrammatic invitations, and on-line communication mediums for enablingback and forth communications such as described.

As mentioned, a social network such as shown by FIG. 5B may beimplemented through use of a centralized network enabled computer orsystem of computers, such as a server. Other embodiments may provide anetwork such as described to be distributed to multiple machines. Stillfurther, one or more embodiments may implement a social network such asdescribed on a peer-to-peer network. In all these situations, the socialnetwork enables contact and communication amongst people who may notknow each other, but know others (who may know others etc) to indirectlyestablish the relationship.

User-Interfaces

FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate suitable interfaces that may be employed with oneor more embodiments of the invention. Interfaces such as shown in FIGS.6A-6E may be generated by service 110, either over a network or througha client application. For example, the UI 212 may generate individualinterfaces for purpose of receiving input.

In FIG. 6A, an interface 610 is presented for a user to (i) select acategory and (ii) input an inquiry. The interface 610 may provide a list612 of categories, each selectable through a menu or iconic feature. Thecategories presented in the list 612 are examples of general categoriesneeded for an individual to relocate or move into a new location. Aselected category 614 is illustrated as being “Multi-Cultural/Church.” Atext field 616 provides a feature in which a user may enter his or herinquiry related to the selected category 614. Once the user hascompleted his or her inquiry, she may send the inquiry out throughselection of the send icon 618. One or more genre fields 620 may beprovided that provide more category lists, each including additionalcategories that are identified are sorted on some other general topicheading. For example, a cultural genre may list categories that pertainto cultural issues for individuals relocating to a new place. Categoriesin different genre's may overlap or be personalized. For example, selectcategories from different genre's that are particularly pertinent to auser may be listed in one genre “Emily's Club”.

FIG. 6B illustrates an electronic form 625 for a user to submit acategory-specific inquiry, according to an embodiment. In an exampleprovided by FIG. 6B, the context of the form is relocation. The form maybe filled out by anyone seeking to relocate to a new city, for example.The form 625 may include a location field 630 for a user to enter his orher location, a topic field (e.g. “Schools”) for the user to enter thetopic or category of his inquiry, a work location field 634 and a zonefield 636 for the user to enter additional geographic information, amessage subject heading 638 and a text body 640 where the user can enterhis inquiry or issue (“Hello I need a referral to a school that canassist my 10 year old deaf child.”).

FIG. 6C illustrates another interface 645 that is company specific (e.g.used internally by one company or organization) to resolve relocationissues by category. A list 650 of categories may be provided, along witha text area 652 where a person may enter an issue or raise a questionunder a selected category. In an example provided, a recipient may bepre-designated for each category. Thus, the user's message will berouted to whoever is designated to receive issues falling under thatcategory.

FIG. 6D illustrates an example of a biography 660 that can be returnedas part of a response. In one embodiment (such as described with FIG.3), the biography 660 is returned by the respondent, possibly along witha response to an issue that the user had inquired about. In anotherembodiment such as described in FIG. 4, the biography 660 is stored indatabase 214 and returned by the service 110 when an inquiry includesselection criteria contained in the biography.

FIG. 6E illustrates additional biographies 670 and 680 for use inpersonal activities. The example provided includes biography 670 for ahobbyist (paintball) and a biography 680 for a teenager. In the lattercase, the teenager biography 680 may be stored with other similarbiographies. In a family relocation, a new teenager into an area mayenter his or her biography into the database 214, and allow others tobrowse her biography. In turn, she may browse the biographies of otherpeople in her new location, and use the biographies to establish newfriends. For a teenager relocation service, biographies of students maybe recruited from numerous schools across the country, in an effort toenable relocating new students assimilate into their new surroundings.In the examples provided, the biographies 670 are searchable, andinclude email addresses (or IM tags or other contact information) toenable the individuals behind the biographies to meet one another.

Roommate Pairing

In the context of roommate pairing, a social network application may beimplemented to facilitate good pairings. Roommate pairing may be done bythe potential roommates themselves, such as in the corporate internsetting where new interns to a given location look on their own forsimilarly situated individuals as roommates for a brief period of time.Roommate pairing may also be done through the control of an outsidebody, such as a student housing committee on a college campus. A methodsuch as described in FIG. 7 may be applicable to the latter case, wherepotential roommates may be able to use a social network system to meetone another, learn about their respective compatibility, and theninfluence the roommate pairing decisions by the outside body. Sincedetermining student roommate pairings is a primary application of anembodiment, a method such as described in FIG. 7 is described in thecontext of roommate pairings for students.

In step 710, an electronic form may be configured to enable individualstudents to create biographies of themselves. The form may beconfigurable by either one of the students, the educationalestablishment, and the body that makes the final decisions. Examples ofwhat can be configured on the form include the information that anestablishment or committee requires from the student. Specific examplesinclude a picture, a major, where the student is from, what the studentwishes to accomplish, a chosen career, a race or religion, hobbies andmusical preferences. In addition to required fields, there may also beoptional fields (e.g. favorite television show).

Step 720 provides that a compatibility criteria is received from a givenstudent. This may include one or more criteria that the given studentfeels is necessary for a match to be successful. Examples includemusical preference and religion.

In step 730, one or more students who match the criteria of the givenstudent are then identified. For example, the compatibility criteria ofthe given student may be compared against specific fields in studentbiographies in order to determine matches for the given student. Toprovide a specific example, the given student may specify religion andmusical preference, and other student biographies are searched formatches to those two criteria.

In step 740, a forum for a given student to communicate with identifiedstudents is enabled. This forum or medium may be, for example, any oneor more of the following: (i) exchange of email addresses for emailcommunications, (ii) exchange of IM tags to enable the students toparticipate in online chat sessions with each other, and (iii) networkaddresses corresponding to individual's web sites or blogs.

Step 750 provides that student pairing selections are received from thestudents, including from the given student. Thus, for example, variousstudent pairing selections may be received from an entire class ofstudents.

In step 760, the given student is paired with one other student based atleast in part on the student pairing selections in step 750. The casemay be that the given student selects a roommate, and that same roommateselects the given student. Or the given student may select someone whoin turn selects someone else, or the given student has multiple choices,ranked in a particular order. In either case, the student pairingselections influence the end outcome of the roommate pairing decisions.

It should be noted that once students are placed in contact with oneanother through a matching of compatibility criteria, a service such asdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 2 may extend a social network for the studentsto the friends and families of those students. For example, students mayinsert their biographies in database 214, their parent information,friends etc. Other students can search the biographies. Students who arecompatible may be able to present biographical information about theirnew roommate and their roommates parents to their own parents. Thus,numerous variations, implementations and embodiments may be developed bycombining a method such as described in FIG. 7 with embodiments such asdescribed in FIGS. 1-6.

A system or scheme such as shown by FIG. 5B may be applicable in as anembodiment in which roommate pairing is performed for students. Forexample, according to one embodiment, a student, roommate or other usermay have a question regarding books needed for certain classes, or whatprofessors students prefer for certain subjects. The user can search thedatabase for an issue resolver and make a Connection 1 520. Connection 1520 through the server 510 can then respond 532 to the studentsquestions regarding the books or the professor for a particular subject.Connection 1 520 can also invite 516 other connections to join the userssocial network and who then can respond 532 to the user 502 eitherdirectly, through the original connection 1 520, or through the server510.

Furthermore, an embodiment may be implemented similar to FIG. 7, exceptit enables students (or interns or other individuals who need contactsin a new community) to pair with one another for social purposes. Forexample, individual students may complete biographies and provide thebiographies to the service 110, where it is maintained in, for example,database 214. Students may submit compatibility criteria, in which casethe profiles of other students are presented to them. From the profilespresented, the student may review the biographical information and makefurther selections. The service 110 may then enable the student tolocate and communicate with selected individuals who correspond to theprofiles.

CONCLUSION

Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been describedin detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to those preciseembodiments. As such, many modifications and variations will be apparentto practitioners skilled in this art. Accordingly, it is intended thatthe scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and theirequivalents. Furthermore, it is contemplated that a particular featuredescribed either individually or as part of an embodiment can becombined with other individually described features, or parts of otherembodiments, even if the other features and embodiments make nomentioned of the particular feature. This, the absence of describingcombinations should not preclude the inventor from claiming rights tosuch combinations.

1. A method for establishing a social network, the method comprising:maintaining a list comprising a plurality of participants, wherein eachparticipant in the plurality of participants corresponds to one or moreindividuals, wherein the list also includes information associated withat least one of each participant or the one or more individuals thatcorrespond to each participant; presenting a user with a plurality ofcategories from which the user may make a selection of a category fromthe plurality of categories; receiving the selection of the category bythe user; in conjunction with the selection of the category, receivingan electronic communication from the user for an unidentifiedrespondent, wherein the electronic communication contains an inquiry ofthe user, and wherein the electronic communication does not identify theuser; after receiving the selection of the category by the user,selecting, based at least in part on the selection of the category onthe information associated with at least one of each participant or theone or more individuals that correspond to each participant, one or moreparticipants from the list to receive the electronic communication;sending the inquiry to the one or more participants; detecting acommunication from a referred party other than the one or moreparticipants as being a recipient of a forwarded inquiry, the forwardedinquiry originating from the one or more participants and correspondingto the inquiry of the user; and presenting information about thereferred party to the user; enabling the user to select what furtherinformation, if any, the referred party is to receive regarding at leastone of the user or the inquiry.